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TMI Blog1956 (1) TMI 36X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... cation was heard by Tendolkar, J. who set aside the impugned order. Against his decision the appellant appealed and a Division Bench of the said Court affirmed the decision of Tendolkar, J. The present appeal is by special leave against the decision of the High Court. 3. The principal ground upon which the impugned order was set aside was that the requisition was not for a public purpose and therefore could not have been validly made under section 5 of the Requisition Act. 4. On behalf of the appellant, the Attorney-General has urged that in the circumstances of the present case, the requisition was for a public purpose and the impugned order had been wrongly set aside by the High Court. In support of his submission he relied upon certain provisions of the Road Transport Corporations Act, 1950 (LXIV of 1950), hereinafter referred to as the Act, the decision of the Privy Council in the case of Hamabai Framjee Petit v. Secretary of State for India in Council [1914] L.R. 42 IndAp 44 and the decisions of this Court in The State of Bombay v. Bhanji Munji and Another [1955]1SCR777 and The State of Bombay v. Ali Gulshan (Civil Appeal No. 229 of 1953) decided on the 4th of October 19 ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... nsport, the desirability of co-ordinating any form of road transport with any other form of transport and the desirability of extending and improving the facilities for road transport in any area and of providing an efficient and economical system of road transport service. 7. The Corporation consists of a Chairman and members appointed by the State Government who are removable by that authority. Where capital is subscribed by the issue of shares under section 23 of the Act provision is made for the representation of the share-holders in the Corporation and the manner in which they are to be elected in accordance with rules to be framed under the Act. Its Chief Executive Officer or General Manager and its Chief Accounts Officer are to be appointed by the State Government. The other officers and servants are to be appointed by the Corporation but the conditions of appointment and service and the scales of pay shall be determined by regulations made under the Act subject to the provisions of section 34, which authorises the State Government to issue directions and general instructions to the Corporation and these instructions may include directions relating to the recruitment and ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... rpose of any of the activities of the Corporation referred to in sub-section (1). (b) to acquire and hold such property, both movable and immovable, as the Corporation may deem necessary for the purpose of any of the said activities and to lease, sell or otherwise transfer any property held by it. (d) to purchase by agreement or to take on lease or under any form of tenancy any land and to erect thereon such buildings as may be necessary for the purpose of carrying on its undertaking. 11. The provisions of the Act read as a whole lead us to the conclusion that if the premises specified in the impugned order had been requisitioned for the Corporation, the requisition would have been for a public purpose. Indeed the learned Judges of the High Court were of this opinion and Mr. Andley did not contend to the contrary. According to him, in this case, the requisition was not for the Corporation but for an employee of the Corporation and for his convenience which could not be a public purpose. 12. The expression 'public purpose' has been considered in many cases and it is unnecessary to refer to them except the three cases cited by the Attorney-General. In Hamaba ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... examination of these and other cases leads us to the conclusion that it is impossible to precisely define the expression 'public purpose'. In each case all the facts and circumstances will require to be closely examined in order to determine whether a 'public purpose' has been established. Prima facie the Government is the best judge as to whether 'public purpose' is served by issuing a requisition order, but it is not the sole judge. The courts have the jurisdiction and it is their duty to determine the matter whenever a question is raised whether a requisition order is or is not for a 'public purpose'. The cases of Hamabai, Bhanji Munji and Ali Gulshan are merely illustrative. In each of them primarily the person directly and vitally concerned would be the person to whom the residential accommodation would be allotted with which prima facie the general interest of the community would not be directly concerned at all. We must regard Hamabai's case as a decision to the effect that the general interest of the community was directly and vitally concerned with the efficiency of the Government servants because it would be to its benefit to have such ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... those activities must be regarded as for a public purpose. It would not be sufficient to merely establish the Corporation. It has to have an adequate and efficient staff, living accommodation for whom would be an absolute need of the Corporation. Its officers have to be efficient in the discharge of their duties, for upon them depends the successful working of the road transport system upon which the public must rely and thus it would be directly and vitally concerned with the efficiency of the employees of the Corporation. It was suggested that a line must be drawn somewhere, otherwise there was no guarantee to what lengths the powers of requisition might be exercised by the Government. It is sufficient to say that each case would have to be decided upon the facts and the circumstances appearing therein. Here the Corporation is a public utility concern and the general interest of the community is directly and vitally concerned with its activities and its undertaking. A break down in the organisation of the Corporation, leading to dislocation of the road transport system would create a chaotic condition to the detriment of the interest of the community. Providing living accommodat ..... 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